Labor drops commitment to greenhouse protocol
Sydney Morning Herald, Copyright 2000
July 29, 2000
By ANDREW CLENNELL in Canberra
A frontbench stoush has forced Labor to drop its commitment to the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gases.
The party's original draft environmental platform was "committed to the ratification of the Kyoto protocol, subject to parliamentary scrutiny in accordance with Australia's treaty-making process". But that part was axed after committee meetings earlier this year.
Instead, left in place was a general statement that "Labor believes Australia must act as a responsible member of the world community and commit to greenhouse gas emission targets".
The mention of the protocol was left out after committee debate featuring frontbenchers such as science spokesman Mr Martyn Evans and industry spokesman Mr Bob McMullan.
It was decided there was still too much uncertainty around the protocol leading into the sixth conference of parties (nations) who are to figure out the finer detail of the agreement in November in The Hague.
Business leaders recently met the Government to put their position that Australia should refuse to ratify the protocol if the United States did not and that the Government should seek the "most liberal rules possible" at The Hague.
The protocol would provide for penalties if Australia had more than 8 per cent above 1990 greenhouse gas levels during 2008-12. Recent national greenhouse gas inventory figures show Australia was 16.9 per cent above the target in 1998, a year after the Kyoto protocol was agreed.
One controversial part of Labor's draft platform left in place is support for a national emissions trading system for greenhouse gas emitters before an international one comes into force from the protocol. But the language changed from being committed to a trading system to strongly endorsing "the notion" of one.
Twelve of the country's leading chief executives - those of including Alcoa, Westpac, Shell, Woodside and Western Mining - were invited to a meeting set up by BHP yesterday to discuss their greenhouse approach.
BHP's chief executive, Mr Paul Anderson, initiated the meeting, which some industry sources believe may be about setting a more conservative stand on greenhouse to take to the Government. A BHP spokesman would call it only a general discussion on greenhouse directions.
The meeting follows statements from the sceptics' Lavoisier group, led by former Labor minister Mr Peter Walsh, which held a conference two months ago in which the greenhouse effect was described as "political correctness".
Labor will come under more attack on the environmental front next week at its national conference in Hobart, thanks to a forest protest led by Greens Senator Bob Brown and Australian singer-songwriter John Williamson outside the conference.
Senator Brown vowed yesterday to do everything he could to make sure his party did not recommend preferences be given to Labor unless it changed its position on the Tasmanian forests.
He condemned the Opposition's support for the Government's regional forest agreement, which saw 11,000 hectares cleared a year in central Tasmania for paper mills.